Legislators Join Conversation On Childhood Mental Health

Press release from CGA:

March 24, 2021

Representative Linehan (D-Cheshire/Southington/Wallingford) and Senator Daughtery Abrams have assembled a panel of mental health professionals including Community Mental Health Service Providers, Regional CONNECT Care Coordinators, NAMI, Michelle Piccerillo from Cheshire Human Services, and DCF Mental Health Administrators to help parents determine if their child needs to seek help from a mental health professional, how to recognize and resolve a mental health crisis, how to navigate the services available to them, including mental health care, outpatient services, insurance coverage and school accommodations and more.

According to the CDC, the proportion of children’s mental health-related Emergency Department visits increased 24% for children ages 5-11 and 31% for children ages 12-17 from April 2020 through October 2020. With this increase in childhood depression and anxiety, a conversation that outlines resources for parents is more important now than ever.

Rep. Linehan, Chair of the Children’s Committee says, “March marks one year since the beginning of the pandemic. Our children have experienced increased anxiety and depression for over a year now; and it is essential that we create a space for this conversation in order to ensure children and parents have access to the necessary support. This is only the beginning of the work that will address children’s mental health as we develop legislation and other initiatives to provide increased resources to children and parents.”

Sen. Daugherty Abrams, Chair of the Public Health Committee and Vice Chair of the Education Committee says, "I am pleased we were able to have this important conversation about the mental health of our state's young people. We are all aware of the toll that this pandemic has taken on many of our young people. It is important to get the message out about resources available to address these concerns. In addition, we are working on legislation this session to identify solutions to improve mental health resources for our youth and I look forward to working with my colleagues on this important issue."

This press release was produced by CGA. The views expressed here are the author's own.